A COUNCILLOR said it was "deeply depressing" that steps to improve Bradford's special educational needs services have dragged on over several years.

An inspection of Bradford Council's Special Educational Needs and Disability service is imminent, and in preparation the Council and its partner services have undertaken a period of "self assessment."

The assessment was discussed by the Council's Children's Services Scrutiny Committee on Wednesday evening. Marium Haque, recently appointed Deputy Director of Education and Learning, spoke to the committee, and told them improving the SEND service was a major priority for her.

Her report highlighted what the Council needed to to to achieve this, including developing and implementing SEND identification, assessment and review processes.

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Councillor Mike Pollard (Cons, Baildon) believes the Council will be in a "tricky place" when the inspection happens. He pointed to a report given to the Council in 2014 that said the Council needed to carry out similar processes to what are currently being suggested.

He said: "That this is coming up again five years later suggests that the system simply hasn't worked. It is great you're grasping this fairly quickly after arriving, but it is deeply depressing that over all these years these fairly simple steps haven't been taken."

Mrs Haque said: "This report recognises the task at hand to drive forward significant changes."

The action plan will now go to the Council's Executive.